The Most Embarrassing Moment

The counselor asked the group of us if anyone could share their most embarrassing moment…

I knew Peter would be the first. He loved the sound of his own voice and had been unusually silent for days. He was a former priest and a crack addict, which was bound to take this to a whole other level.

” I was in a Rabba grocery and I was hungry. ” He began and scanned his audience. ” I stole a yogurt and some avocados. The manager of the Rabba caught me and gathered around his staff and said…

” This is what a THIEF looks like! THIS!!!… is what a thief looks like. ” I began to picture Peter the crack addict thief, wearing his robes and white collar, being admonished by the grocery clerk when he continued.

” He took the yogurt and avocados and told me to leave. As I was leaving he threw one of the avocados at me which hit the door jam at head level… I was very fortunate that the avocado didn’t hit me as it wasn’t ripe yet and very hard… I could have been really hurt. ”

I couldn’t stop laughing and was unable to hide my joy. After a few seconds of this, Peter said to me. ” Could you please explain to me what it is you find so funny? ”

I contained myself long enough to reply, ” Do you steal green bananas? ”

Later when I was trying to recount this story to someone who wasn’t there, I said, ” And everyone was laughing. ”

Someone who was there tapped me on the shoulder and said, ” No Dennis… only you were laughing. ”

Dennis Mantin

What she said today…

I waited for her in front of the school. I could see another child on the bus trying to comfort her… She didn’t see me yet and was crying. The new school is not going over well.

I met her for lunch today and she said ” I’m already used to it, I just don’t like it here. It doesn’t feel right to my spirit and if something isn’t right with my spirit then I am going to be angry. You know this is a Catholic school? I love God and I love Jesus but I am not Catholic…”

Dennis Mantin

Boredom

I don’t get bored and I really don’t know why.

Wayne says boredom is attached to ego but wtf does he know? Ok Ok let’s entertain this notion that Wayne knows what he’s talking about…

I remember a time when boredom ruled and in this realm, all sorts of crap went wrong. I drank too much, did too many drugs and got myself in questionable situations with others who were probably equally bored.

Now I am not interested or don’t care… not really sure. Maybe it was the pains of youth.

I just know I feel much better than before.

Dennis Mantin

Hero with a 1000 Faces

Hero with a 1000 faces. Ancient, old and grey. Nothing new under the sun. It just looks that way.

Hero with a thousand voices. Sounds an ancient past. It’s just that no one’s listening and that one cannot last.

It’s raining and its ugly and its stained with its mark. Its dancing between droplets and whistles in the dark.

Hero with a 1000 choices, or sorry was that just 1. I’d love to stay and chat but you know I gotsta run.

Dennis Mantin

Why did Ace Ventura drop the Raccoon?

On a day my 6 year old girl asked me this question, her mother stated the following; in the form of a question:

” You know I’ve worked my ass off for the past 3 years? ”

I didn’t say, you’ve just returned from a 40 days vacation in France which was preceded by a 35 days vacation the previous year and 37 the year before that…

No, I just walked away to ponder why my girl would still be thinking about why Ace dropped the trash panda a year after she saw the movie.

I told her it wasn’t his choice; that sometimes we have to let go of things in order to save ourselves.

Dennis Mantin

The Solution

Suffering comfort in the lap of luxury; living off of the fat of the land in the land of milk and honey… good bordering on great! Its the best of times…

I’ve heard it said, ” When you have no money food is the problem… when you have money, relationships are the problem, when you have both, health is the problem. ”

I guess the bottom line is none of us is getting out alive… So what’s the solution if not spiritual?

Dennis Mantin